How Circadian Rhythms Shape Strength, Recovery, and Health with Dr. Karen Esser #829
Release Date: 12/31/2025
Our New Co-Host Deadlifts 700lbs with Doug Larson, Travis Mash & Dr. Mike Lane #830
Barbell Shrugged
In this episode of Barbell Shrugged, Doug Larson and Travis Mash officially welcome Dr. Mike Lane as the show’s new co-host. Mike shares his full origin story, from growing up a sports-loving kid in St. Louis, to discovering strength and conditioning in college, to earning his PhD and becoming a professor of exercise physiology. Along the way, he reflects on the mentors who shaped his thinking, including time spent around Westside Barbell, Olympic lifting culture, and elite academic labs that blended hard training with hard science. The conversation dives deep into the intersection of...
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How Circadian Rhythms Shape Strength, Recovery, and Health with Dr. Karen Esser #829
Barbell Shrugged
In this episode, Dr. Karen Esser Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology and Aging at the University of Florida joins the crew to break down one of the most overlooked performance variables in human physiology: circadian timing. After a career spent studying muscle adaptation, Dr. Esser shifted her research toward the molecular clocks inside our tissues, uncovering how every cell in the body keeps its own time. She explains how these clocks govern fuel storage, protein repair, metabolic readiness, and ultimately the way muscle responds to training. The team digs into what these...
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Menopause, Weight Gain and Hormones with Fat Loss Expert Dr. Bill Campbell #828
Barbell Shrugged
In this episode, Dr. Bill Campbell returns to the show to discuss a major pivot in his research from building muscle and optimizing fat loss to understanding menopause and its effects on women's body composition. After watching his wife struggle through a severe perimenopause transition that resisted every traditional fat loss strategy, Campbell uncovered a massive blind spot in the scientific literature: almost no research exists on fit, resistance trained women going through menopause. His public comments sparked hundreds of messages from women describing the same struggles including...
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Black Root Recovery: The Multi‑Modality Recovery Sauna Built for Veterans, Athletes, and High Performers #827
Barbell Shrugged
Former Marine and general contractor Andrew Kavanaugh joins the crew to share the origin story of Black Root Recovery, a company he founded after watching too many of his fellow Marines struggle physically, mentally, and emotionally after returning home. What started as a personal quest to rebuild his health led to a 90-pound weight loss, the elimination of sleep apnea and nightmares, and a profound shift in cognitive clarity and emotional resilience. Andrew combined the modalities that changed his own life (grounding, infrared therapy, red-light therapy, and traditional sauna heat) into a...
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Ben Johns - The Most Dominant Pickleball Athlete In The World #826
Barbell Shrugged
In this episode, the world’s #1 pickleball player, Ben Johns, joins Anders Varner, Doug Larson, Travis Mash, and Dr. Mike Lane to unpack what it really takes to stay at the top of one of the fastest-growing sports on the planet. Ben walks through the insane travel schedule, the perpetual in-season demands, and the growing physical toll of a sport played in deep athletic stances, high-velocity lateral movements, and multi-hour tournament days. For the past year, Ben has partnered with RAPID Health Optimization to build a data-driven system around sleep, recovery, hydration, nutrition, and...
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MRI-based Muscle Analysis with Dr. Doug Goldstein #825
Barbell Shrugged
In this episode, the Barbell Shrugged crew explores how next-generation MRI muscle analysis is transforming the way high-performing athletes train, recover, and prevent injury. Dr. Doug Goldstein walks Anders Varner, Doug Larson, and Travis Mash through Doug Larson’s full Springbok Analytics scan a 3D “digital twin” of his musculoskeletal system that reveals muscle volume, asymmetries, and tissue quality with a level of precision traditional assessments can’t match. The team breaks down how this data gives coaches a clearer understanding of the body’s true strengths, weak links, and...
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Precision Muscle Analysis with Matt Brown of Springbok Analytics #824
Barbell Shrugged
In this episode, Anders Varner, Doug Larson, and Travis Mash sit down with Matt Brown, Director of Business Development at Springbok Analytics, to explore the cutting edge world of MRI based muscle analysis. Matt breaks down the origins of Springbok, how the company grew from a university research lab solving cerebral palsy surgical problems into one of the most advanced muscle segmentation platforms on the planet, and why professional sports teams, medical researchers, and longevity practitioners are all adopting this technology. From 15 minute full body protocols to AI driven segmentation of...
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Measuring Muscle Mass Percentage with Dr. Chris Perry, Anders Varner, Travis Mash and Doug Larson #823
Barbell Shrugged
In this week’s episode of Barbell Shrugged, Anders Varner, Doug Larson, Coach Travis Mash, and Dr. Chris Perry dive deep into the real science of muscle mass, why it’s the single most important tissue in the human body and what happens when you don’t have enough of it. They cover everything from how muscle mass impacts disease risk, hormone balance, metabolism, and injury prevention to why being “under-muscled” may be just as dangerous as being overweight. Dr. Perry explains how strength training and nutrition can reverse age-related muscle loss and why the decade between your...
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Rebuilding Strength and Purpose, Travis Mash’s Path Back to the Platform w/ Anders Varner, Travis Mash and Doug Larson #822
Barbell Shrugged
In this episode, Anders Varner, Doug Larson, and Travis Mash sit down for a story that is equal parts comeback and evolution. After a hip replacement and years away from competition, Mash, now over 50 years old, stepped back onto the powerlifting platform to go nine for nine and set new age group world records. He breaks down how he rebuilt his body, balanced strength with health, and used velocity-based training to stay powerful without breaking down. The crew digs into how technology, recovery, and smarter training allow veteran lifters to keep progressing long after their prime years, and...
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The Science of Sleep and Recovery w/ Dr. Allison Brager, Anders Varner, Travis Mash and Doug Larson #821
Barbell Shrugged
In this episode, neuroscientist and U.S. Army sleep expert Dr. Allison Brager joins Anders Varner, Doug Larson, and Travis Mash to explore the real science behind sleep, recovery, and wearable technology. They discuss which devices actually deliver useful data, such as the Oura Ring for sleep tracking and Garmin for cardiovascular measurements, and why being consistent with one tool is more important than chasing perfect accuracy. Dr. Brager explains how wearables are now being used in place of sleep labs in both clinical and military settings to help athletes and operators make better...
info_outlineIn this episode, Dr. Karen Esser Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology and Aging at the University of Florida joins the crew to break down one of the most overlooked performance variables in human physiology: circadian timing. After a career spent studying muscle adaptation, Dr. Esser shifted her research toward the molecular clocks inside our tissues, uncovering how every cell in the body keeps its own time. She explains how these clocks govern fuel storage, protein repair, metabolic readiness, and ultimately the way muscle responds to training. The team digs into what these clocks do, how they synchronize, and why misalignment affects everything from daily performance to long-term health.
The conversation dives deep into time-of-day effects on strength, endurance, and adaptation. Dr. Esser highlights that humans are consistently stronger and more explosive in the afternoon, a pattern reflected in Olympic records and decades of performance data. But her lab’s animal research reveals something game changing: consistent morning training can shift the internal clock system, allowing morning athletes to achieve equal or even better adaptations after several weeks, despite using lower absolute training loads. She also explains how travel, jet lag, and mistimed eating disrupt organ specific clocks, reducing performance and creating metabolic consequences similar to pre-diabetes. The crew tests these ideas against real world training habits, coaching experience, and what happens when athletes switch from evening to early morning training.
Finally, Dr. Esser unpacks the broader health implications of circadian disruption from increased risk of metabolic disease and cardiovascular dysfunction to higher rates of depression and cancer in chronically misaligned shift workers. She outlines simple, actionable strategies: anchor your sleep and training times, keep eating within a roughly 10 hour window, avoid late night calories, and arrive early when competing across time zones. The conversation closes with practical takeaways for athletes, coaches, and everyday lifters who want to maximize adaptation, improve metabolic health, and align their biology with the rhythms built into every cell.
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